Freedom
by Notjustanotherperson
Summary: She had lost freedom, she had lost hope. They hadn't. They were going to keep looking, even when everyone had given up, they were determined to get her back, dead or alive.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Please talk to me."

She refused.

"At least look at me."

She held her gaze firmly on a dark corner in the tomb-like room. A single orange bulb flickered on and off, allowing her to see the angry bruises that ran down her legs out of the corner of her eyes. She set her jaw firmly and refused to look up - she didn't want to see him, let alone talk to him. He didn't deserve it.

"Don't make me do this!"

His voice rose and he roughly pulled her chin up, forcing her to look into his cruel eyes. She could barely make out his square jaw, but his dark eyes pierced hers, making her whimper softly. Her heart was thumping in her chest as she anticipated the blow that she knew was coming and squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the intense pain.

It never came. She heard faint knocking from above, and he huffed angrily before storming out of the cold basement. She watched his tall, muscular form disappear from the room and heard the lock snap shut. When she heard the front door creak open, she crawled carefully towards the locked door and put her ear to it, straining her ears to faintly hear the deep voice of the visitor.

"Good evening…police, have you seen…sixteen years old…brown hair…brown eyes…kidnapped…nearby park…Thursday evening." She felt something she had not for a long time. Hope. She started banging on the metal door and screaming at the top of her voice. Please, please, please help him to hear me, she pleaded with whoever was up there. She knew that this policeman was her only chance of getting out of this hell, her only chance at freedom.

"Please call…thank you…" No, no, no, please, she chanted in her head. She banged harder, screaming louder in her desperation. She felt hot tears scorch her tender cheeks as they leaked endlessly from her swollen eyes, knowing that her efforts were futile and would probably only anger him further. The slamming of the heavy front door caused all traces of hope to vanish instantly. Fear and dread flowed back into her at full force as she realized she had not stopped yelling or hitting the barrier between her and her freedom with her sore fists. The sound of heavy footsteps, his footsteps, echoing in the stairway leading to her cage snapped her out of her trance. She frantically scrambled back to her original spot in the far corner, hoping he had not heard her. She knew he had.

The door opened.

"Feeling brave, Rachel?"

She knew she would never have freedom again.

**A/N Thanks for reading, this was actually written for an English assignment but I tweaked it a little. I got a pretty low grade so I would really like to know if you enjoyed it and if you can, give me some constructive criticism. Do you think I should continue?**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"_Welcome back to the nine-o-clock news. Our next story, a kidnapping has rocked the small town of Lima, Ohio. Sixteen year old Rachel Berry was last heard from on Thursday night, her fathers claim that she had gone to Lima Park with a few of her high school friends and had decided to walk home herself, however, she never reached her house. Police have started investigating but apparently have no leads yet on what happened to the girl. They ask that if you have seen her or know anything about her disappearance to immediately call this hotline. This has been Rod Remmington..."_

He stirred and groaned, the hangover causing his head to pound painfully. He forced his eyes open and he seemed to notice the dried blood staining his hands for the first time. He huffed in frustration and threw an empty beer bottle at the wall, causing it to shatter. He had lost control again.

* * *

><p>Finn dragged his feet through the doors of William Mckinley High School, his eyes were red and swollen, his cheeks puffy as he slowly made his way to the choir room. He had spent a large part of the night before crying.<p>

_Finn was tossing and turning, trying to sleep when he heard faint sniffles and mumbling outside his bedroom. He followed the sounds curiously until he stopped in front of the bathroom door. He knocked softly. _

"_Hello?" He asked, unsure of what to say. _

"_F...Finn?"_

"_Kurt? What's going on, man? You okay in there?" He had promised to man up and be a brother to Kurt at the wedding and he was willing to go after anyone who dared to hurt his new family member. He smiled proudly at his realisation that he was Kurt's sworn protector, apart from Blaine, of course, before he remembered that Kurt had yet to answer him. "Kurt, open up!" He was close to kicking down the door when he heard the lock click and was met with a teary eyed Kurt holding his handphone out for him to take. Finn gave Kurt a questioning look but Kurt just ignored him and shakily told him to answer it._

"_Hello?" Finn could hear crying in the background. "Finn? Finn Hudson? It's me, Leroy, Rachel's dad. Has...has she contacted you?" He felt his heart drop. Something had happened to Rachel. Even though they had broken up, he still loved her deeply. He would often stare at her back during US History or as she passed in the hallway or during Glee Club or... "Finn?" Realising he had zoned out, he quickly replied._

"_No? Hiram, he said no. Don't cry, I'm sure we'll find her." Leroy could be heard talking to Hiram, his husband. "Mr Berry, why did you ask? What happened to Rachel?" Finn asked, sure that he was going to dread the answer. "She went out with Kurt, Blaine and Mercedes earlier in the evening but she hasn't come home. We just spoke to Kurt and he says Rachel left on her own and was going to walk home but...but that was hours ago and Hiram and I are so worried." Leroy's voice had grown shaky at the end despite his best attempts to stay strong for his more emotional spouse. "Finn, I know this is a lot to ask considering you aren't dating our princess anymore but could you please help us drive around town and see if you find her? Blaine's out helping too." _

"_Sure."_

_He hadn't found her. He had driven around Lima all night looking for Rachel but as hope became slimmer, he broke down into tears which continued till dawn when he finally headed home._

The choir room was deadly silent, a stark contrast to how it had been the day earlier when everyone was just jamming and having fun.

"Take a seat, Finn." Mr Shue motioned him towards the chair in the front and for the first time since he arrived in the doorway, he noticed two policemen in the room. He hurriedly took his seat, ignoring the looks the other glee clubbers gave him. Seeing that everyone had arrived, Mr Schue began,"Alright guys, I trust you all know about Rachel since her fathers rang you all last night? Um, I know this won't be easy, but these two officers, Officer Landon and Officer Handler, are going to help us find Rachel and they need to take statements from some of you. Kurt, Blaine, Mercedes, would you guys please follow us out?"

After they had left, including Mr Schue, a few of the glee clubbers started to talk out loud to no one in particular.

"I can't believe this happened."

"I hope they'll find her soon."

"Poor Rachel, please let her be okay."

Finn couldn't believe what he was hearing and clenched his fists in an attempt to get his temper under control but failed miserably..

"Would you all just shut the hell up? Don't act like you care about her! None of you ever have so why start now? Is it because she's gone and may never come back? You don't deserve to worry about her. All of you bullied her, you put her down everyday, any little comment was enough for you to call her a diva. Do you know how much that hurt her? Do you know how much it hurt when you called her names or when you insulted her clothes? Glee is supposed to be a place where everyone is accepted and liked for who they are, isn't that what we always say? No. It was a place for everyone but her and now you're just feeling guilty that you might never get to make things right with her!" Finn was red in the face, his fists were flailing in the air wildly as he yelled at the glee clubbers, who were stunned at his sudden outburst.

"Yeah, okay, you're right, we weren't the nicest to her and maybe we're feeling a bit guilty but you know what, Hudson? The only reason you're yelling at us is because you're the one feeling guilty! You never forgave her and now she's gone, you're just taking it out on us!" Puck stood up and stared a fuming Finn in the eyes. Finn shook his head in disbelief and lunged at him. The two were rolling on the floor, punches were being thrown blindly while the rest of the club tried to pry them of each other. Sam tried to restrain Finn while Mike held Puck back as they continued yelling and lunging at each other.

"What is going on in here?" Mr Schue demanded as he entered the room with Kurt, Merecedes and Blaine. "Everyone sit down, now!" Evrybody slowly made their way back to their seats, Finn and Puck shooting daggers at each other. "Look guys, I don't know what happened but fighting isn't going to help us find Rachel. I know you're all upset over her disappearance but we have to work together, as a team. Everybody go to class and meet back here tomorrow morning, we're going to discuss what we can do to help so settle what you need to today because from tomorrow onwards, we have to stick together. Do it for Rachel, guys, she needs us."

As the rest left the room, Finn buried his face in his hands and cried. He had spoken the truth but Puck wasn't wrong either, he had been consumed with thoughts of never having the chance to let Rachel know that he had forgiven her long ago since the night before.

**A/N Hope that wasn't too bad. Anyway, for the sake of this story, Kurt and Blaine attend Mckinley, Sam and Quinn are still dating, she never cheated on him either and Lauren is not in glee club. This is my first ever attempt at writing a fic, so if you could tell me what you think or what I can improve on, it would be great. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"_Keep holding on_

_Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through_

_Just stay strong..."_

He paused as he passed by the staircase leading to the basement, listening to her sing before it turned to sobs. He smiled, she sounded like an angel.

* * *

><p>Puck shook his head as he watched Santana and Brittany put up posters of Rachel, asking if people had seen her. The day before, the glee club had met up in the choir room to discuss ways they could help Rachel and although the atmosphere had been tense, they had managed reach a decision. They decided to split up into four groups of three people to distribute and put up posters to see if they could get any leads on Rachel's disappearance. Everyone except Puck. He knew stuff like this wouldn't work, it never did on television and it would take too long. He jumped onto a table in the middle of the foodcourt and began to speak.<p>

"Hey everybody! Yeah, that includes you, dickhead! We really, really need your help. Listen, our friend, Rachel Berry, she was kidnapped and we'd really like to find her. We miss her, a lot so if anyone of you has seen or heard anything, please tell the police. Please." He finished and leapt back onto the ground, pushing his posters into Brittany's arms before sitting down on a nearby bench and burying his head in his hands. He had been honest. He had never admitted it but he loved the little brunette, like a sister, he decided, thats why they never worked out as a couple and he missed her so much it physically hurt him. He didn't know when he had grown to care for her so much but just thinking about her scared and hurt made him so angry. Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He lifted his head.

"I...I saw something."

* * *

><p>Sam, Quinn and Finn had been grouped together even though Finn had yet to utter a word to any of them. Sam was going around putting up posters when he saw his girlfriend facing away from him, her shoulders shaking. "Quinn, are you okay, baby?" He asked concerned. "I'm...I'm fine." He wasn't the sharpest tool in the box but he knew the blonde was anything but fine. The moment he heard her sniffing and wiping at her eyes, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. "Hey, what's wrong?" Quinn just continued crying into his shirt, clutching it tightly with both hands. He repeated his question and pulled her away from him so that he could wipe her tears.<p>

"Sam, I just...I just feel so guilty! I was so mean to her! She was always there for me during my pregnancy and I'll never get the chance to show her how much I appreciated it!" She broke down again. Quinn felt consumed with guilt. When they had first started high school, the two had instantly bonded, however, the day Quinn got onto the Cheerios, everything changed.

"_Rach, guess what?" The young diva grinned at her friends excitement and waited in anticipation for the undoubtedly good news. "I'm a Cheerio!" Quinn squealed happily. "Oh," Rachel said as her face fell, "congratulations Quinn, really. I've got to go to class, see you later." Quinn watched in confusion as her new friend walked away from her, very much unlike her usual hyper, over enthusiastic self._

_Later that day..._

_The lunch bell rang and Quinn made her way to the cafeteria to find Rachel since it had become a bit of a tradition to eat together. She spotted her friend walking towards her but was suddenly pulled aside. "You're Quinn right?" The head cheerleader, Tiffany asked. Quinn nodded nervously. "In order for you to officially be a Cheerio,_ _you have to pass a little initiation test." Quinn gulped as an icy drink was pushed into her hand. She didn't like where this was going, she had heard all about the infamous slushies at this school. "See that loser over there? The midget? You have to throw this at her, make sure you get its hidieous face." Tiffany said before giving Quinn a push towards Rachel who was too absorbed in reading her US History textbook to notice what was about to happen. _

_Quinn looked behind her to see a bunch of Cheerios smirking at her, egging her on in her mission and glanced again at her new friend. It was now or never, popularity or bullying for the rest of her high school life. She threw it. The look of Rachel's face broke her heart. She saw tears mixing with the red liquid before the shorter girl ran into the nearest bathroom. Quinn took a step to follow her but stopped herself when she felt a pat on the shoulder and Tiffany whisper in her ear, "Welcome to the Cheerios, Q, you've got a bright future." She did something she hated herself for, she walked away._

_That night she scrolled through her contacts when it landed on "Rachel". She typed out an apology and her finger hovered over the "send" button for a minute before she pressed exit. That was the day their friendship ceased to be and it was all her fault._

I'm going to make things right, Quinn decided. When we find her, I'm going to apologise for everything and I'll be there for her, no matter what, she thought as she wiped her eyes dry.

* * *

><p>Kurt, Blaine and Mercedes had run out of posters so they had decided to retrace Rachel's steps that night when something in the bushes beside the road caught Kurt's eye.<p>

**A/N Thanks for reviewing and reading, let me know what you think!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Remember when we went cycling?" He slurred. She shifted uncomfortably as he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. "Remember?" He asked, clenching his teeth and squeezing her shoulder roughly. She gulped and nodded hesitantly, she had no idea what he was talking about but didn't want to risk another beating. He took another sip of beer and kissed her forehead sloppily. She cringed.

* * *

><p>"Mr Schue? What is it?" Mercedes asked as she answered her phone. "O-Okay, we'll be there soon. In fact, we've got something to tell the club too." She said as she eyed Kurt and Blaine talking to the police.<p>

* * *

><p>Puck moved to the center of the Mr Schue's living room as the rest of New Directions quickly took their seats on couches and chairs and looked at him expectantly. Mr Schue nodded at him, signalling for him to speak. "Guys, I don't know if I'm allowed to say this but honestly, I don't give a shit. We were putting up those posters just now and I decided we needed something more so I gave a little speech. A girl came up to me and said that she saw something on the night Rachel disappeared. She and her mom were driving home when she saw a short brunette that looked like Rachel talking to a guy. Apparently he had an afro." He growled the last part.<p>

"Wait, so your saying Jewfro had something to do with Rachel going missing?" Finn asked, shooting up from his seat. "I wasn't done, Hudson. The girl told us that he had his filthy hands on Rachel and she was struggling against him. It seemed like he was trying to get her into his car."

Finn was about to storm out of the apartment when a strong hand gripped his arm, holding him back. He turned around and was met with Puck's outstretched hand. "Look Hudson, I know we've had some differences in the past and I'm sorry for all that shit I said to you but Mr Schue's right, we need to be able to work together if we want to find Rachel. Truce?" He nodded and shook his hand firmly before continuing his journey to the door, only to be stopped again.

"Let go off me, Puck, or I swear you're going to regret it!" Finn whirled around, suprisingly fast for someone of his size. Puck released his arm and held his hands up in the air and said, "Don't touch my face. Besides, the police already know and are probably talking to him as we speak." They slowly made their way back to their seats, Finn still seething in anger.

"Mercedes, you had something to say?" Mr Schue said, motioning her to the front of the room.

"Alright guys, it's not really anything big but Kurt, Blaine and I, we had run out of posters so we decided to retrace the route from the park to Rachel's house and we found her phone. The police took it so we don't really know anything yet."

The club just spent the rest of the day sitting around the house, hoping that the police would call with some news. Any news. They waited and waited until they had to go home. Nothing happened, there was no call, nothing.

* * *

><p>"Handler, what's the boy's name again? Jacob Ben Israel. Yes, we need this information urgently. Alright, call me back." Officer Landon sighed as he ended the call and moved over to where his partner sat, pouring over Rachel Berry's diary, given to the police by her fathers. "Any news?" He asked. Officer Handler's eyes didn't move from the page but he said, "It seems we may have another person of interest. She wrote a lot about a boy called Finn Hudson, ex-boyfriend apparently. Should we bring him in?" Before an answer could be given, Officer Landon's phone rang.<p>

"What? Ben Israel hasn't been home since Thursday?"

**A/N Sorry for the short, rather disjointed chapter, my brain hasn't been working properly. The next one should be longer! Also, thanks to riverkirby who finally got my butt down to writing this after a hectic week! And I know my birthday was last week, but I would really appreciate reviews!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

She turned to rest on her side as her back began to ache from lying on the cold, hard floor of the basement and she groaned. Her ribs hurt badly from the night before when he kicked her hard in the chest. She needed to escape. Ignoring the pain in her side, she crawled towards an abandoned beer bottle and picked it up. She smiled for the first time in days. She had an idea.

* * *

><p>Tuesday. It was Tuesday and there was no news. Finn huffed angrily as he closed his eyes, resting his head in his hands, completely ignoring his math teacher drone on and on about their last test. He was sure he had failed anyway. Suddenly, there was a firm knock on the door.<p>

"I need to speak to Finn urgently. Please take your bag." Mr Schue said hurriedly. Finn, hoping for news on Rachel, immediately picked up his bag and ran out of the classroom, almost tripping over a table leg in the process.

His heart fell as he stepped out into the hallway, only to be met with the two police officers in charge of Rachel's case and his mom. "Mom, what's going on?" He asked nervously. "Finn, these officers would like to talk to you. Apparently Rachel wrote a lot about you in her diary and they just need to rule you out as a person of interest."

"Wait, I'm a suspect now? I didn't do anything to her!" He yelled, his face turning a bright red. "Finn, please cooperate. It's just protocol, we know you wouldn't hurt Rachel." Carole Hummel said as she rubbed her son's arm soothingly, she could see just how much he loved the small brunette that she had grown to like too. "Ye-yeah. Of course, I'm sorry. I just...I've been so stressed lately. I miss her so much." Mr Schue nodded in understanding. "We miss her just as much, Finn."

"No, you don't."

* * *

><p>"Britt, what are you doing in here? Glee isn't until later." Santana said, concerned as she spied the blonde sitting in the choir room and staring blankly at the centre of the room. "When's Rachel coming back, San?" The girl asked innocently as she turned to look at the brunette who had taken a seat beside her. "I don't know." She said as she took Brittany's hand in hers, locking their fingers together. "You miss her." "What?" Santana asked, completely caught off guard by the statement and how sure the blonde sounded.<p>

"I can tell." "Yeah, I-I do miss her. Sort of. I guess I just expect her to come bursting through the door any second and start ranting about her idea for another solo but she's gone and she may never come back. I've been so horrible to her!" Brittany let the other girl bury her head in her shoulder as Santana's voice cracked. She stroked her hair comfortingly and said, "Don't worry, San, she'll be back. I know it, she'd never go down without being on Broadway first." Santana lifted her head and wiped her tears with her hand before cupping Brittany's cheek. "When did you get so smart?" "Since I met you."

* * *

><p>"So, Finn Hudson, you're Rachel's ex-boyfriend right?"<p>

"Yes."

"You broke up because she cheated on you. Is that right?"

"Yes, but I wouldn't do anything to her."

"Really? I know what's like to get so angry sometimes that you do things you regret, for a man your size, it wouldn't be hard to accidentally hurt someone."

"I said I wouldn't hurt her." Finn growled as he slammed his fist onto the table. Officer Landon sighed, he could see how much he loved the girl and this wasn't helping the boy's case.

Suddenly, Officer Handler's phone rang. He stepped out of the interrogation room, thankful for the much needed fresh air.

"Handler speaking. You made some progress on the phone? Yes, I know it was damaged. Wait, so what you're saying is that there were several calls from the same, unknown number over the past week? Okay thanks, let us know when you've figured out who it is." Officer Handler sighed as he put his phone back into his pocket and joined his partner again.

**A/N I know that was pretty rough but I've got a special chapter up next so I hope you'll stick around! Thanks for reading, please review!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

This was it. Her hands were sweaty. She could hear him, his thundering footsteps as he descended the staircase to the basement. _It's now or never_, she told herself as she gripped the glass bottle tighter in determination. She gulped and ran through her plan in her mind again. She waited.

The only sounds were her thumping heart and her ragged breaths as she stood by the door. Fear rose in her as the she heard the lock click and saw the handle turn. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as he opened the door and stepped into the room just as she raised her arm.

She brought the bottle down on his head forcefully and he cried out in pain as he crumpled to the floor. Adrenaline pumping through her, she ignored the sharp pain in her chest as she made a mad dash up the stairs. Pausing for a moment at the top, she looked around wildly for the way out of the house as she heard him quickly recovering and beginning his ascend towards her. She ran into the first room she came to, the kitchen.

"What do you think you are doing?" He bellowed at her, his features were scrunched up in a scowl and blood was running down the side of his face but he didn't seem to notice. She was cornered. She reached behind her blindly, and found what she was looking for. A knife. "Don't come near me!" She yelled shakily, holding the weapon in front of her. She was panting, the pain in her side ever more obvious after the exertion of running. He lunged at her and she instinctively ducked and clutched the knife above her. The knife clattered out of her hand as he wrestled her to the ground near the doorway. She spotted the front door just beyond the living room and she struggled with all of her might before managing to knee him in the groin. He howled in pain and she immediately took the chance to escape from under him.

She scrambled to her feet and sprinted towards the door as fast as she could while she held her burning ribs. Suddenly, something in the living room caught her eye. A body. She faultered and tripped over one of the glass bottles that littered the floor. Her eyes met the glassy ones of Jacob Ben Israel and she screamed. In her terror, she tried to get to her feet quickly but found herself being pulled backwards. She turned her head and was met with cold, hard eyes boring into hers. She kicked out as hard as she could, trying to free herself but his grip on her ankle remained firm.

"No!" She cried as the front door disappeared out of sight. She tried to latch onto anything she could but to no avail as she was dragged back into the kitchen. When they came to a stop, she once again attempted to pull her leg out of his grasp but was suddenly flipped onto her back. He loomed over her, one hand gripping her ankle tightly, the other was holding something-a roller pin. Before she could register what was happening, it flew down towards her and a sharp pain erupted in her head and her vision began to darken. She whimpered. She had lost the only chance she had of escaping. This was it.

**A/N It was short but I hope you enjoyed it! Would you like more chapters from Rachel's POV or should we stick to the others? Thanks for reading, please review!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**A/N I'm so sorry for not updating this in ages! I know I'm horrible! **

The first thing Rachel became aware of was the throbbing pain in her head. It felt as though her brain was to explode at any moment and it was getting worse as she became more awake. The second thing she realised was that she was sitting up. Slowly cracking open an eye, she moved her head slightly from the cold surface it had been resting on, wincing at the simple action as it sent waves of pain through her. She instinctively tried to reach out a hand to rub her forehead to soothe her headache but found her movement restricted. Panic began to wash over her as she started tugging helplessly at the thick ropes binding her wrists firmly to a rusty pipe and tears of frustration ran down her cheeks.

"I see you're awake, Rach." He said as he walked down the steps leading into the basement. Hearing his voice, Rachel felt anger boiling withing her, threatening to spill over at any second. She'd had enough. She'd suffered, she'd cried and she was exhausted both physically and emotionally. "Please, let me go! Please!" She begged as he came nearer. Their eyes met and for a second, Rachel thought she had seen something in his eyes, something she couldn't quite place but perhaps it could be because for the first time, he wasn't in a druken haze.

Kneeling in front of her, he stretched out one of his large, rough hands, causing Rachel to flinch and move backwards as much as she could until her back hit the wall behind her. Resting his hand on her bruised cheek, he began rubbing his thumb over her skin, wiping away the remains of her fallen tears. "I'm so sorry, Rach, but you know why I have to do this. It's for your own good. I can't lose you again!" He said, his voice thick with emotion before he stood up, making his way back to the staircase.

"No! Please, don't leave me here! Please!" She screamed as he closed the heavy door, cutting out the only source of light from the dark room. "Please," she cried.

"Please."

* * *

><p>Blaine sighed as he left the cafeteria. He and Kurt had agreed to meet their during their lunch period but fifteen minutes had passed without him showing up. Running a hand through his dark hair, he rushed to the only place where he thought Kurt might be. Arriving outside the choir room, he opened the door slightly to peek inside, spotting his boyfriend sitting at the piano, his face buried in his hands.<p>

"Kurt?" He asked, placing a hand on the other boy's shaking shoulder. Turning around at the sound of Blaine's voice, Kurt stood up, burying his face in his neck as his arms wrapped around him tightly. Blaine could feel his shirt becoming damp as his boyfriend continued sobbing and he rubbed his back in an attempt to comfort him. "Kurt, it's okay, we'll find her. We'll get her back!" He whispered into his ear.

"You don't get it, Blaine! This is all our fault, can't you see?" Kurt said exasperatedly as he pulled away. "What do you mean? Kurt, there's nothing we could have done to stop it! This is the fault of the evil person who took her!" Blaine said, confused and angry that his boyfriend was blaming them and not Rachel's kidnapper.

"Yes, there is! Don't you remember? We left her alone late at night, just because we were too eager to get some alone time. This is all our fault."

"_The movie was great, don't you think?" Kurt asked his friends as they left the cinema and headed towards the park, hand in hand with Blaine who was looking adoringly at him. "While I found it rather enjoyable, I thought that having Elizabeth get into a car accident at such a random point in the movie, the dramatic effect had been detracted from and severely..."_

"_Look Diva, while we'd definitely love to know how the movie could have been improved, I think we can save that speech for another day." Mercedes cut in, saving them from one of Rachel's long lectures, effectively gaining them a pout from the small brunette._

_Walking behind the two girls, Blaine leaned down to peck Kurt's lips lightly as he squeezed his hand. Kurt blushed slightly and was thankful that neither of the girls was paying attention to them and were chatting animatedly in front. "Just think of what we can get up to later when we get back to my house," Blaine whispered in his ear, causing Kurt to blush deeper. This was all still rather new to him and Blaine enjoyed making the boy squirm. _

_Before they reached the park, the four friends stopped outside a large white house and bid farewell to Mercedes as she disappeared through the front door. Continuing their journey, Kurt and Blaine were growing a bit irritated by Rachel's incessant chatter. As she had lost the only other person she could talk to, Rachel was only the couple to chat with and failed to notice their annoyance as she refused to leave them to enjoy the late night walk under the starry sky. _

"_Look Rach, we're at the park! I guess it's time to say goodbye since you're heading in the other direction." Kurt said, impatience shining through in his tone. "Oh. Weren't you guys going to see me home?" Rachel inquired about their previous agreement. That had been the only reason why she had told her dads that she didn't need a ride home. _

"_Well, I'm afraid it's getting kind of late and we need to get home. I'm sorry, Rach. Call us if you need anything." Blaine said, ignoring the bad feeling he was getting at forcing the small girl to walk home alone._

_Rachel bit her lip and nodded, lowering her eyes. Even though she, Kurt, Blaine and Mercedes were now friends, she could always sense when they would grow tired of her and sometimes, that hurt more than being bullied, not that anyone ever knew. Watching her walk away, Kurt and Blaine ran into the deserted park, happy at it finally just being the two of them. Finding a spot on the grass, they lay down side by side and admired the beautiful night sky in Lima. _

"It-it...we can't go blaming outselves, Kurt. Yes, we were wrong but there's nothing we can do now to change what we did. The only thing we can do is to make things right. We're going to find her, Kurt, and we're not going to stop searching until we do." A sudden chiming broke the tense silence that had fallen apart from Kurt's occasional sniffles and Blaine cursed his phone silently. Pulling it out of his pocket, he glanced down at his phone and found a message from Mercedes.

_Hey Blaine, the club's heading over to Artie's after school to see if we can come up with ways to help find Rachel. Are you and Kurt coming?_

Typing out a quick reply, Blaine stuffed the device back into his pocket before heading over to his boyfriend, wrapping him in another tight hug and wiping away the tears on his pale face before kissing him lightly. Pulling away, he took his hand and informed him of their after school plans as he led Kurt out of the room and into the toilet where he could freshen up and calm down before class started.

**A/N Once again, I want to apologise, I'm sorry for taking so long and for not even giving you a good chapter! Please review though, it'll help motivate me to update again sooner! Also, there are more revelations to come!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**A/N Sorry this took a while! Thanks for the reviews, I'm surprised and thankful that people haven't given up on this yet!**

**To Elle: I hope you'll stick around a while longer, things may not necessarily be what they seem.**

**To tomfeltonlover1991: I tried to add a bit of Puck here. I'm considering your suggestion though!**

It seemed like the hours dragged by for Blaine as he sat in school waiting for class to end. His mind had been anywhere but on partial fractions or Romeo and Juliet, choosing to remain mainly on the small brunette diva. Despite the reassurances he had given his boyfriend, he couldn't deny the guilt that he felt after his conversation with Kurt. The boy was right, it was their fault that Rachel had been kidnapped.

Finally, the school bell rang, signalling the end of the day and Blaine heaved a sigh of relief. Anything was better than being in school, especially when there were more important things at hand like finding Rachel. Grabbing his bag, he made his way towards his locker to deposit the books that he wouldn't need for homework before going to Kurt's locker where they agreed to meet after class and almost immediately spotted the boy leaning against the metal, eyes glued to the ground, oblivious to his surroundings.

"Hey Kurt, ready to go?" Blaine asked, pecking his boyfriend's lips quickly to break him out of his thoughts. "Huh? Oh yeah, of course," Kurt replied, walking beside Blaine but for once since they had started dating, did not take his hand. This didn't go unoticed by the dark haired boy but he didn't say anything.

The car ride over to Artie's house was in silence for the most apart. Half way through the journey, Blaine reached over to the passenger seat and took Kurt's hand, giving it a firm squeeze and flashing him a smile when he turned his head. Kurt smiled back before apologizing but nothingelse was said.

When they finally pulled up at the large house, they found cars already lining the opposite side of the road and recognised them as the glee clubbers'. Knocking on the door, they were welcomed into the house by Mrs Abrams who lead them to Artie's room which was packed full. Brittany, Santana, Quinn and Tina were seated on his bed, Mercedes was sitting on a chair in the corner, Finn was seated at the base of the bed along with Sam and Mike on his right and left and Puck was leaning against the wall. Artie was seated in front of his computer and was the only one to notice the two boys standing in the doorway.

Carefully, Kurt and Blaine stepped over the others until they found a suitable spot on the floor that Kurt deemed sufficiently clean and sat down.

"I think we should go door to door and ask if anyone's seen her," Finn suggested. Their discussion had barely started and already, people were running out of ideas. As team captain in Rachel's absence, he felt it was important for him to start the ball rolling again, even if he couldn't contribute the best ideas. He would do anything to find Rachel.

"Yeah, that's bound to work, genius," Puck said sarcastically, turning around to face a glaring Finn. Things had still been pretty tense between them even though they'd tried to set aside their differences to work together and they were still at odds with each other.

Puck turned his head away once more and sighed. He hadn't meant to go off on Finn again, really, he had just been feeling so stressed. He cared about Rachel, even if he never said it, they had been close when they were younger and he still saw her as a sister. Sure, he had bullied her a lot but he had regretted letting things get so out of hand, he had never meant to take the bullying so far.

"Why would anyone want to take her?" Tina's voice broke the silence that had fallen, raising a question everyone was curious about and causing all eyes to fall on her.

"She must be scared." Quinn said softly.

"I hope she's okay." Brittany added sadly. She didn't really understand what was happening but what she did know was that Rachel was gone and that made her sad. She had always liked the small brunette, she reminded her of a munchkin.

Suddenly, Artie's voice rang out from his place behind the computer. "Hey guys, check this out. I was searching for information on Rachel's case, news articles etc, and I came across this." Artie said, calling out to the other teens in the room as he studied the screen before him. Once he had gained the attention of the others, he began to read certain parts of it for those who couldn't see the article from their places.

"It says here that a few years ago, there was a similar case in one of the nearby towns. A young brunette disappeared one night after leaving the house when her father and her got into an argument. They never found out what happened to her but her distraught and guilt ridden father refused to give up hope of finding her. There's not much details about the case but there is a photograph of the girl."

"Wow, they look so happy," Mercedes commented as she pointed to the picture beside the article where three faces smiled brightly at her. One was a tall, well built man, his arm slung over the shoulders of a short brown haired teen and next to her, a petite woman who she bore a striking resemblance to. Quinn, who was standing beside Mercedes, furrowed her brows as she read the names underneath the photo, _Kevin, Rachel and Annabelle McClaren_. Rachel?

"Guys, the girl who went missing, her name was Rachel too. Do you think it's just a coincidence?" Quinn asked but only received shrugs in return. It was suspicious but perhaps she was reading too much into it. After all, it was just a name, right? What relevance could it have?

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><p>"Landon, I just got a call. They managed to trace the unknown number to Jesse St. James, UCLA student who used to attend Carmel High and from what I've heard, Rachel Berry's ex-boyfriend. All the calls are from Lima so I presume he's back on vacation, probably staying at his parents' place." Officer Handler said as he hung up the phone and joined his partner.<p>

"You think someone couldn't let go of their feelings?" Officer Landon asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Maybe, maybe not. People do crazy things for love. Perhaps he might know something about Ben Israel's disappearance as well."

"Alright, come on let's go and pick him up." Officer Landon said as he grabbed his car keys and coat. He crossed his fingers, hoping that this would truly lead them somewhere for once. So far, all they'd encountered were dead ends and without new leads, the case would grow cold. He wasn't going to let that happen.

* * *

><p>Rachel sat on the cold hard floor of the basement, leaning on the pipe beside her. Her arms, her back, her legs, everything was aching from being stuck in her sitting position for hours. She would occassionally fidget and shift slightly in an attempt to relieve some of the ache but pain would shoot through her leg, causing her to wince and sit still again. It was torture.<p>

Her tears had dried or more likely that she had run out of tears. She had cried and begged for him to let her go, but he had ignored her, paying no attention to her as he went about his daily business, mainly drinking. She heard the door open and the shuffling of heavy feet pounding down the steps clumsily. He was drunk. She always hated it when he was drunk. It always seemed to make him more violent and more violence meant more pain. She didn't like pain.

**A/N I wish I didn't have to say this but updates are going to be on hold for a while because of exams. I'll probably be back around early mid October and I hope you'll bear with me until then, maybe check out my other story Castle Walls. Anyway, please review! They mean a lot to me!**


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